The Good Samaritan
by Khait Khepri
Summary: Kain Fuery had learned a very important lesson when he was young and, like a good boy that wanted to make his parents proud, took that lesson to heart. One-shot, manga and FMA2003 compliant


Title: The Good Samaritan

Summary: Kain Fuery had learned a very important lesson when he was young and, like a good boy that wanted to make his parents proud, took that lesson to heart. One-shot, manga and FMA2003 compliant

Rating: T (some swearing)

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. This is merely for entertainment purposes.

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Kain was a very good boy. His mother had told him so. His father had told him so. Both had told him as much since he was small enough to sit on his father's knee and stare at the newsprint as his daddy read. He had learned, even, how to read from those newspapers and had learned many other things while in his father's lap. He had learned he liked coffee, for his daddy would sometimes take the spoon he'd used to mix in his sugar and dip out a bit for Kain to drink once it had cooled. He had learned about other foods, such as cake or sausage, and how good that was. He'd also learned he'd be a big brother while sitting on his father's lap and that had honestly delighted him. There had been times when his father had even taken him to go bird watching and had taught him the names of various songbirds, all of which dark brown eyes had drank in with pure astonishment.

He also was very good when it came to helping his mother. She was always quick to praise him if he picked up his toys and put them away or straightened his room. He enjoyed making her pretty green eyes sparkle with happiness and urging a smile onto her face.

It became clear over time that Kain was a gentle soul and when he was quite young, still sitting on his father's lap and staring at newsprint he'd yet to understand, he heard his father say something that stuck with him for the rest of his life.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

His father had called it the 'Golden Rule' and had explained it to him when Kain had shakily mimicked the words and had asked what they'd meant. "Son," he had said, his near-black eyes and silver-highlighted dark brown hair a familiar and warm sight. "Always remember that people won't always be nice to you or care to help you. But if you treat everyone like you want to be treated, you cannot go wrong."

That stuck with him. Even as his father (twenty years older than his mother) had eventually passed due to a rather nasty heart attack, Kain kept to that saying and even grew more attached to it because it was a wisdom his father had lived by and he felt closer to the deceased man when he lived by it.

And when he was kind to one, he was kind to all. Perhaps, he had come to later realize, it hadn't been easy for his mother to deal with the sudden influx of lost or abandoned puppies and kittens, injured birds or squirrels, but she took it in stride and advised him he would have to care for them and ensure they got good homes. His kindness, coupled with the fact that his vision deteriorated to the point he required glasses just before he became a teenager, often left him bullied by his peers. It didn't help that he was smart and so willing to offer a hand. Older people and many of the girls about his hometown came to adore him because he was so helpful. Many of the guys didn't appreciate how he'd managed to get every girl in the town to offer him things or peck him on the cheek. His mother, again, had taken it in stride.

Then again, she probably wouldn't have if he'd been not so shy.

"Kain!" chirped Amelia, bouncing close to him. "I was wondering… could you help me with my math?" The slight teen looked to the brunette that was already visibly blossoming into a woman and smiled.

"Sure. What are you having problems with?" Brightening at the acquiescence, she settled down next to him.

"This one here." Kain, despite his wiliness to help, had developed into a proper person when it came to cheating. Sure, he would help you out but he had no willingness to let you cheat your way through school. So, as he helped Amelia with her schoolwork, showing her how to do something with slightly different numbers, other girls came to ask him for help too. And because Kain was so sweet and kind, he had become almost unattainable because the poor boy had no clue what to do with all those pretty girls. And because of that, he became every last one of those girls' friend.

And that, unfortunately, caused problems.

Kain gasped as he was slammed into the side of the bakery three blocks down from the school, just out of sight from everyone on the main street. "You think yourself so damned fine, don't cha?" sneered Peter Yates, his three friends smirking at the sight of the teen being pinned. "Got every girl in town wrapped around your little finger?"

"S-sorry!" stammered the glasses-wearing teen, though his glasses were currently askew. "I-I don't k-know wh-what you're talking about!"

"Bet he's got a different one in his bed every night," mused Terry Sawyer, looking the bullied boy up and down. Kain turned furiously red.

"No! No! I don't! That's just disrespectful!" Of course he wasn't thinking of himself when he said this.

"You're stealing my girl from me," snarled Peter, shoving his face into Kain's.

"I'm not stealing anyone! They just ask for my help! I'm not dating anyone!" He wilted under the glare he got. "R-really. I've got to take care of my mom and work a job after school." A job that he was now _late_ for. "P-please. I'm sorry for whatever offense I've caused, but I've not done anything with anyone."

He heard John Rolfe sniff. "Probably a little nancy boy," he sneered. "Probably more turned on by us roughing him up than the girls." Kain was appalled but wisely kept his mouth shut. Peter seemed to recoil at that and hastily let him go.

"Fuckin' pansy boy," he sneered. "That's it, isn't it? You're into guys instead of girls!"

"I'm not," Kain defended, but the sound of his words were weak. "I just have bigger priorities than finding a girlfriend right now. Those girls in class are very nice, but I have to take care of my mother first." Straightening his glasses, he frowned and then sighed. "I've got to go."

He was shoved again into the wall. "Don't you dare touch Rachel," sneered Peter.

"I'm not out to take anyone!"

"You kids!" Immediately, the assaulting boys flinched back and looked warily at the interrupter. It was William Nichols, the owner of the bakery. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Just having a talk, sir!" John offered cheerily enough. The disbelieving snort echoed in the alley.

"Yeah. A talk. Get your hands off Glasses there and shoo. And I better not catch you bulling again, Johnny, or your friends. I'll tell your mother and she'll lay into you with the paddle!" Wincing, the boy and his friends scampered. Nichols frowned at Kain. "Well, what do you have to say?" Kain gave him a frustrated look. "What was that all about?" He jerked his head at the retreating teens.

"They're angry that I help out people," admitted Kain. "And are mad that I have a lot of friends that are girls." He heard a low guffaw of laughter.

"Popular with the ladies, eh?"

"Sort of." He looked at his watch and paled. "Oh, no! Mister Carter's going to be angry at me! I'm sorry, Mister Nichols, but I have to run!"

He hared off, past the baker and out onto the street. Mister Carter ran a local radio station and truthfully Kain had become fascinated with the devices he had. He had also found a natural affiliation with communications devices and had been taken on as a sort of quasi-apprentice. Mister Carter had been a friend of his father's and had taken to looking after the skinny boy after his father's death. Bursting into the station, he was greeted with the backs of very familiar blue uniforms. Blinking up at the pair and realizing they were standing before Mister Carter even as the group looked at him in surprise, Kain felt himself blush.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Kain," grunted Carter. "You're late."

"Yes, sir. Sorry. I got caught up after school." He didn't like telling lies and his words weren't precisely lies, but he hated being a bother to people and thus usually turned his answers into gentler versions than the complete truth. Carter grunted.

"Go check on the equipment. Once I get done with these officers, I'll be on back there to help." Kain nodded and scooted on.

Before he could vacate the general vicinity, he was halted by one of the uniformed soldiers speaking. "Hey, kid. You like this sort of stuff?" Turning back, he gave the man a curious look and nodded.

"Yes, sir, Mister…?" He left it hanging and the man grinned.

"First Lieutenant Jones," he told the boy.

"First Lieutenant," greeted Kain. "Yes, sir. I do."

"Kid's got a gift in it," agreed Carter.

"Maybe once you get old enough, you could take up with the military. We could always use more gifted communications adepts," Jones offered. Joining the military had crossed his mind before. In fact, though retired, Carter had been military and so had Kain's father up until he'd gotten shot in the knee and had become legally disabled as a result. From what he understood, the pay was fairly decent and if you could get a good spot, you didn't have to do much more than administrative work… or in Carter's case, running boards and comms.

Smiling slightly, he gave his answer. "I'd thought about it before, sir. I don't know if I'd be much good at being a soldier, but I have thought about it."

"Well, think on it," offered the unnamed man also in blue.

And with that, Kain had gone on to work on maintaining the transmitters for the station so that the adults could talk.

Of course, when he'd headed home he had found a mother cat that had just had kittens hidden in an out-of-the-way alley. Taking a bit of money, he bought a bit of fish for her from a nearby store and laid it out for her. Despite the warning growls, he slowly skid it to her by pushing it with a stick. The cat, once she was sure that she'd not have it taken back, shifted and began hungrily eating as her kittens suckled. Smiling at the scene, he moved on home and made note to check on the cat from now on.

"I got a call from Mister Nichols," his mother said the moment he got home and he winced. "Kain," she sighed, dropping her hands from her hips an losing the 'disapproving mother' mode. "Are you seriously trying to give me a heart attack?"

"I didn't do anything wrong," he protested.

"No, you didn't," she agreed, coming closer and hugging him. "But I'd rather you didn't get yourself in trouble. Sometimes, it's not good to be too nice." Kain sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"I just don't want you to get killed, sweetie," she chided gently, pulling back to look him in the eye. "Sometimes I wonder if you're too good for this world. I don't want to lose my boy on top of losing my husband." He gave her a smile.

"You've still got Adam and Sam," he reminded. His two younger brothers, eight and six respectively, were still too young to get jobs and support the house. And like that, he got smacked on the arm. Wincing from the blow, though it wasn't very strong to begin with, Kain resigned himself to the fuss his mother put up.

"I do not value one son over another, Kain Bartholomew Fuery!" she shouted, swatting at him again. "Adam and Sam I both love but nothing could replace _any_ of you! I show my concern, my love, and all I get is 'oh, you've got two others'?!" Glaring at her son, she snarled, "Shame on you, Kain!" Pulling a shamed face, he backed down.

"I'm sorry. That's not what I meant."

"Then what _did_ you mean?"

"That you made it sound as though I was an only child," he told her. She huffed.

"You are _all_ my boys," she retorted. "Now go do something and stop standing here like a lump!"

Time passed, of course, like it always did and when Kain turned sixteen he found himself treated to the sight of a homeless man huddled out of the rain under a ledge. The man was dirty, bent, and obviously shivering. Other people waked by without really paying attention. Kain, however, could not 'not pay attention'. Instead, he entered Needermeyer's Grocery and purchased a loaf of bread, a hunk of good yellow cheddar, and a bottle of juice. Carrying the purchases out of the store, he walked over to where the man was and held the paper bag out to him. "Here, sir."

Startled honey-brown eyes looked up from beneath a mat of tangled grey-brown hair. He had scars on his face, Kain noted, and looked a little feral. Bobbing the bag, carefully held out well away from his body, he smiled. The man's gaze lowered and then snatched for the bag. Letting it go, Kain waved a farewell and moved on, not noticing the astonished and grateful gaze of the transient or how the man tore into his gift with relish.

Sure, his kindness more often than not left him without money but he was happy. There was little fault in the idea of sharing and caring. But he was careful who he was kind to. People like that transient man could be dangerous. _Anyone_ given the right motive can be dangerous. Yet, he still gave in hopes that he honored his father.

After all, he wanted to live by that adage he'd heard on his father's knee.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

The moment he could, he enlisted. Academy was tough but he did manage to pass through if only because he was good at communications devices. It had been about a month or two after the Ishvalan Uprising when he'd completed his last year of Academy. Thankfully he'd not gotten stuffed out on the front lines, instead running a switchboard to keep communications open. And somehow his credentials passed over the desk of a Lieutenant Colonel.

Staring at the dark-eyed Xingese-appearing man, he waited apprehensively. "So," drawled the smooth voice of the Lieutenant Colonel. "You're good in communication devices, technical support, and have mastered all of basic training."

"Yes, sir."

"I expect your best, soldier," Mustang said, looking up at the bespectacled twenty-three year old.

"Yes, sir."

The man smiled slightly. "No need to be so formal. In this office, Mustang is more than fine." Kain blinked in astonishment. "The promotion's so new, it squeaks when I turn too fast."

The humor caught Kain off guard and he let loose a chuckle before reddening in mortification. "Er… Me, too, sir." Comm techs were easily promotable and he had exited the Academy as a Sergeant only to be promoted to Sergeant Major as soon as he got done with running boards for Ishval.

"Well, we'll just squeak on together." The Lieutenant Colonel, whom he'd heard was a great war hero, smiled. There was something in his eyes and Kain could plainly see that this was a man that had seen horrible things but was steadfastly trying to rise above them. "I had you transferred under my command. I can do with a man like you." Looking at him, Kain nodded.

"I'll do my best, sir."

"Good man."

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Author's Note: 'The Golden Rule' is something my mother tries very hard to live by. Kain's reasoning comes from my own to some degree, believing when I build or grow things I'm closer to my grandfather.


End file.
